Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

HECLA MINING CO. Mr. Ealy. Senator McClure, my name is Gene Ealy. I live in Kingston, Idaho, and am vice president of exploration for Hecla Mining Co., and I will speak on its behalf. Something is happening to our country today, which I'm not accustomed to. It frightens me and should be of greatest concern to every citizen of the United States, and of this State, of course. Our standard of living is lowering. We are increasingly dependent on foreign nations for the raw materials of industry and for our national defense. Our men and women are out of work in a land which has always been blessed with bountiful natural resources to feed its economy. Because mineral deposits are rare and usually buried, they are difficult and costly to find. Designation of additional wilderness would narrow the chances of finding these raw materials which are so badly needed for our industry, and will eventually increase our dependency on foreign countries to supply such minerals, contribute to a lower standard of living for our people, and exacerbate the unemployment problem. We, therefore, oppose any addition of national forest lands to wilderness designation. As an explorationist, I reject the concept that large acreages such as are proposed to be added to the wilderness can be effectively studied, inventoried, and classified unlikely to contain valuable minerals. Because significant mineral deposits are relatively small, usually buried, have highly variable genetic sources and include such a large number of materials that could be of interest, it is very difficult to condemn any substantial acreage from containing 128 valuable minerals. In light of futility of the effort, we support release of all RARE II and/or wilderness study lands to multiple use status. Thank you for the opportunity to express our views.